


Next to You

by Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Friends to Enemies to Friends, M/M, Time Skips, Vignettes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 13:55:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9327920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/pseuds/Karasuno%20Volleygays
Summary: Three bus rides, two moody guys, one tumultuous relationship.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was an anonymous prompt on Tumblr for "Join Me; Kindaichi and Kageyama". I went a little overboard.

“Is this seat taken?”

Tobio looks up from his handheld game in surprise, not used to having the other boys on the team ask to sit with him. _Bakayama_ , they call him when they think he can’t hear. He’s only been in the volleyball club at Kitagawa Daiichi for a month, and he’s already been ostracized by most of his batchmates and even some of the senpai. 

But Kindaichi Yuutarou towers above him, face twisted with an anxious smile as a crowd of third years glower at him for holding up the line filing onto the bus to the prefectural tournament. 

Yuutarou is an okay guy, Tobio thinks. He likes volleyball a lot and works hard at it, and he’s very polite to the upperclassmen. Tobio isn’t sure what Yuutarou thinks of him in particular, but he’s willing to give the situation a try if Yuutarou is. “Sure.” 

With a sigh of relief, Yuutarou sits next to Tobio and gives him a nervous chuckle. “Thanks, Kageyama.” Reaching into his bag, he pulls out a box of strawberry Pocky. “You want some?”

It’s probably an obligation, like giving something to every classmate on Valentine’s Day in elementary school, but Tobio is happy to be offered part of Yuutarou’s treat. “Thanks,” he says as he accepts a few sticks. “Do you like strawberry a lot?”

Yuutarou grins. “It’s my favorite.” He takes a bite of one and gives a reverent hum. “But the best kind is strawberry milk. How ‘bout you?”

Tobio’s eyes widen at the mention of his own preferred drink. “I drink it every day.”

The tension eases out of Yuutarou’s shoulders as he continues with his snacking, and Tobio takes the time to enjoy his own. The company isn’t bad, either.

 

* * *

 

Tobio is the last one on the bus after just barely talking himself out of calling his mother to come get him. It’s a long drive, which is why he decided against it, but the prospect of boarding a bus full of people who loathe him is far more grim than the scolding he would have received for wasting her time.

But as he looks down the aisle, he wishes he hadn’t hesitated. There isn’t an empty seat anywhere, even with the first years, and as he warily heads toward the back, hoping the single seat next to the emergency door is unoccupied. One by one, the other boys sitting only one to a two-person bench make themselves larger to ward off Tobio’s presence. 

Yet when he is nearly at the back and he spies one last open seat, he gulps when he sees that the bench’s other occupant is the boy who he’s sure hates him more than anyone else on the bus.

“C-can I —”

“Sit down if you have to,” Yuutarou spits, making himself as small as possible to prevent any millimeter of his being coming in contact with Tobio. 

“Thank you,” Tobio offers quietly, adhering to Yuutarou’s wishes, sitting as close to the aisle as he can without falling off the bench. 

To ward off the chill of early spring, he draws up the hood of his sweatshirt and hugs his midsection for warmth. However, it doesn’t stop the slight shivering from dried sweat not showered off after their fateful match. Tobio had only returned to their assigned locker room long enough to snatch away his bag and finish changing out of his uniform in a bathroom.

Tobio looks up, startled, when a Kitagawa Daiichi club jacket drapes over him. Yuutarou is looking away from him, but from the size printed on the tag waving up at him from the collar, Tobio knows it’s his. 

He wants to thank Yuutarou, to plead his forgiveness, to ask what he can do to be a better teammate, but he doesn’t. He knows he’s lost his first friend on the team for good, but at least this way, he can have this last bit of warmth from that now-wilted relationship for a little while more.

 

* * *

 

The bus to Tokyo begins to board, and Tobio is one of the first aboard. It’s his second trip to the All-Japan Youth Intensive Training Camp, and this time, he’s armed with better directions to the facility so he doesn’t struggle with being punctual this year. Armed with headphones, a bag of pork curry buns, and four back-issues of _Volleyball Monthly_ , he prepares to pass the journey in relative peace.

“Is this seat taken?” asks a familiar voice that makes Tobio’s head jerk in surprise. 

“K-Kindaichi!” Tobio yelps as he swipes his duffel bag from the bench next to him and stuffs it under the seat in front of him. “Are you going to Tokyo, too?”

Yuutarou gives Tobio a smile he can’t quite dissect and replies, “Yeah. Some intensive training camp thing.”

Tobio’s jaw drops as he pulls out his own invitation in his pocket, complete with the address of the facility. “This one?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Yuutarou settles next to Kageyama and pulls out his own official-looking sheet of paper. “Just hope I don’t get lost.”

Nodding gravely, Tobio says, “I almost did last year. I know the way now, though.”

“I heard you went.” Yuutarou leans back in the seat until his knees touch the seat back ahead of him. “It kinda pissed me off that you got to go, but you belonged there more than any of us at the prefectural camp.”

“At least _you_ didn’t try to sneak into it,” Tobio says, a smile threatening as he remembers a certain teammate of his gatecrashing that particular camp. “I had to double-check my luggage to make sure Hinata wasn’t in there.”

A choking sound comes from Yuutarou, and Tobio turns in alarm. It takes a few moments, but he realizes that his ex-teammate is laughing. The sound and the sentiment warming his insides, Tobio eases back into the seat as well, leaning forward to pluck the giant bag of meat buns from his backpack. He holds it out to Yuutarou. “Want one?”

Yuutarou’s eyes light up as he takes in the smell. “Are those from Yuki’s?”

“Yeah.” Tobio takes one and holds it out. “I have a lot.”

Reaching out to take the bun, Yuutarou’s fingers brush against Tobio’s. Neither of them withdraw, and a halting, crooked smile cracks on Yuutarou’s face. Tobio thinks they’re both remembering a similar day in what seems like a lifetime ago, and he hopes that Yuutarou also thinks that maybe after everything, they’re back where they belong — side by side.

**Author's Note:**

> Please love them.


End file.
